Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with extensive experience. Collier, or “CJ” to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy, and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. With his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he’s tackled a wide variety of articles.
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Video game adaptations, once Hollywood’s scourge, are now in full swing. Franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog and ***Super Mario ***have become the bedrock of record-setting blockbusters, while streaming services are pouring more effort into video game-based television series. The biggest example is Prime Video’s Fallout, which puts its own spin on Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic franchise through the creative efforts of **Jonathan Nolan **and Lisa Joy, plus a stacked cast that includes **Walton Goggins **and Ella Purnell. *Fallout *has some serious competition, though, as another video game adaptation has become a breakout hit on Peacock.
Anyone who has Peacock knows this series is Twisted Metal, which draws inspiration from the cult-classic racing games. Like Fallout, *Twisted Metal *takes wild swings with its source material, depicting a world where **the United States has descended into anarchy **after a mysterious event called “The Fall.” It also boasts its own star-studded cast, with **Anthony Mackie **and **Stephanie Beatriz **in the lead roles. *Twisted Metal *quickly became one of Peacock’s most-watched series, and it makes for an excellent binge-watch that rivals *Fallout *in entertainment value.
Part of Twisted Metal’s winning formula is how it captures the mix** of pitch-black comedy and gratuitous ultra violence **that defines the video games. A key example takes place early in the Season 1 episode “3RNCRCS”, where protagonist John Doe (Mackie) encounters the psychotic clown known as Sweet Tooth in the ruins of Las Vegas. While brutally beating John, Sweet Tooth takes time to play Sisqo’s “Thong Song” and sings along to the lyrics. If that wasn’t wild enough, he and John actually start bonding over the song. This scene, and others like it, come courtesy of **Rhett Reese **and Paul Wernick, who developed the show alongside Jonathan Michael Smith. Viewers will notice the same razor-sharp wit that cuts through Reese and Wernick’s work on ***Deadpool ***and ***Zombieland ***is laced throughout Twisted Metal.
The other thing that makes *Twisted Metal *work is its cast. Mackie’s performance as John Doe is laced with humor and more than a bit of pathos as he struggles to regain his lost memories. Beatriz serves as his perfect foil as the mysterious Quiet, who slowly bonds with John over their shared trauma. But the standout is Sweet Tooth, who manages to be witty and utterly terrifying. Part of that is because **Samoa Joe **provides the physical movements, while **Will Arnett **provides the voice. The result is an unpredictable, utterly chaotic presence that keeps viewers hooked and terrified at the same time. It also gives Walton Goggins’ performance as the Ghoul a run for his money.
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
Your partner doesn’t talk much, doesn’t need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you’ve finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You’ll never need to ask if he has your back. You’ll just know.
Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it’ll take you a moment to remember what’s actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You’ll never be bored. You’ll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar’s eye and a brawler’s instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn’t matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you’ll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren’t so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you’ve finished reading the briefing, and the plan he’s settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn’t exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
While *Twisted Metal *was an impressive streaming success in Season 1, Season 2 is where the series truly cemented its current popularity. It’s also where the story starts to truly resemble the games, with John and Quiet entering the Twisted Metal tournament hosted by the mysterious Calypso (Anthony Carrigan). Whoever wins the tournament gets their wish granted, and the other racers—including Sweet Tooth and the mysterious Dollface (Tiana Okoye)—are willing to go to any lengths to win. Jonathan Michael Smith explained how the tournament arc worked in Season 2’s favor during an interview with IGN, as the expanded cast offered a wide range of characterizations.
“They all have inner lives and inner wishes and a reason for them to exist. And I think we do that even better this season and I’m really excited for you to meet all of them and understand what makes them tick.”
*Twisted Metal *Season 2 was even more successful than Season 1, earning a major bump in critical reception. **Season 3 is **in the works, with **Mark Hamill **set to join the cast as Pope Charlie Kane—who’s also Sweet Tooth’s father. If *Twisted Metal *keeps up its winning formula, it’s bound to remain a great video game adapation and more than a worthy competitor for Fallout.
